Business News

With the High Street already on its knees following the pandemic, which has decimated the retail industry, both physical and online retailers will be desperately looking to their e-commerce systems to make up for lost revenues and profits this Christmas after a disastrous year.

However, British tech bosses are warning of potential systems crash as we approach Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the extra demand running up to the Christmas trading period.

Open College Network West Midlands is strengthening its commitment to promoting race equality in its organisation by signing up to the RACE Equality Code – the first awarding organisation (AO) in England and Wales to do so. Launched in October 2020 by Birmingham-based The Governance Forum, the RACE Equality Code 2020 is an accountability framework designed by leading governance experts to assist organisations in tackling boardroom race equality.

MadeForMums, the UK’s number one parenting site for product reviews, has today announced the winners of the MadeForMums Toy Awards 2021, as judged by children and parents, as well as toy industry and parenting experts.

The MadeForMums Toy Awards 2021 celebrate the best children’s toys at every age and stage, from newborn to teens and cover 44 categories from Best Toddler Toy and Best Doll to Best Science Toy, Best Playset, Best Educational Toy and Best Scooter.

Edgar Chibaka and Jamal Tahlil, Co-Founders and Directors of First Response Group Ltd, have been announced as the Business Persons of the Year at the Black British Business Awards virtual ceremony on 07 October 2021.

These inspiring entrepreneurs immigrated to the UK from East Africa in 2007 and built their security, fire and facility management solutions company from scratch.

The UK government’s Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has defended the government's handling of the energy crisis after suppliers said the system of having a cap on prices was not fit for purpose. Gas prices are at record highs, with some domestic energy supply firms failing as they pay more for gas than they are able to charge.

Employees at Dudley libraries should earn at least the real living wage of £9.50 per hour to safeguard against deteriorating pay levels, says UNISON. The union’s Dudley General Branch says current pay levels are not sufficient to meet the everyday needs of staff and is calling on the company running the town’s libraries to raise its rates.

Midlands Housing Association Nehemiah Housing Association welcomed Walsall South MP Valerie Vaz to their newly refurbished and extended Nehemiah Court retirement scheme in Caldmore, Walsall, on Friday 1 October to celebrate the scheme’s transformation.

The newly extended and refurbished retirement scheme was officially opened by Valerie Vaz MP who unveiled a plaque to mark the scheme’s upgrade and planted a tree as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative and the ‘Plant A Tree For The Jubilee’ scheme. 

Three groups supporting young people in Birmingham and Coventry are in with a chance of winning up to £100,000 in a housebuilder’s charity competition.

Persimmon Homes Central has shortlisted the good causes to represent the region in its Building Futures scheme, which will give away £1 million this year to projects that benefit under-18s.

The wellbeing of hundreds of employees across the region have been put to the forefront - thanks to employers taking part in the Thrive at Work programme. 

The West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) scheme officially recognises companies for actively promoting their employees’ health and wellbeing.

The national property consultancy Naismiths is ramping up its operations in both East Anglia and Western England with the opening of new offices in Norwich and Exeter.

The two new hubs, which between them will house up to 15 staff, will enable the company to consolidate a period of rapid growth in two of Britain’s best performing regional property markets.

Global content marketing agency, HDY Agency, has strengthened its operational team with the appointment of its first growth director and project director. 

Bringing 20 years of marketing and advertising experience, Deborah Green joins the fast-growing agency as a growth director to support its visions of client growth and international expansion. 

Nicola Enoch, from Leamington Spa, founder of Positive about Down syndrome has won Star Mum at HELLO’s Inspiration Awards 2021 for her dedication as a mum and to the Down syndrome community. Nicola attended the ‘Summer in the City’ themed award ceremony, hosted by HELLO!

Chief Editor Rosie Nixon and presented by Anita Rani.

The British Safety Council’s International Safety Awards 2022 are now open for applications, with a new category to celebrate the achievements of individuals and organisations who go the extra mile to transform health, safety and wellbeing.

The International Safety Awards are an internationally recognised accolade for safety excellence.

The Global SME Finance Forum is the largest, most technically in-depth, and geographically diverse conference on SME financing hosted around the world each year. Last year, as COVID-19 ushered the world unexpectedly, the decion was made to move the panels online and build a virtual community.

The event attracted over 2600 registrations from 1000+ commercial banks, development finance institutions, fintech companies, and regulators from 150+ countries, which broke our record for the number of registrations.

A massive overhaul of transport in Birmingham city centre is planned to meet the challenges of the next decade.

The Birmingham Transport Plan 2031, based on a 2020 consultation, is scheduled to be discussed at Birmingham City Council’s Cabinet meeting next Tuesday.

A virtual Job’s Club has been launched to help people get jobs in the construction industry.

Midlands based construction company, RMF Group has launched the monthly Jobs Club, in partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), to engage with local communities and share various training and career opportunities within the construction sector. The first club will be held they (Thursday October 7) at 3pm and can be joined via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/west-midlands-combined-jobs-club-7-october-tickets-175441780087

The event, which is supported by the Department for Work and Pensions and Colleges West Midlands, focuses on the construction industry. Each month selected employers will talk about various projects across the region and help available for individuals wanting to start a career in construction within the West Midlands.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the WMCA, said: “This new Jobs Club is a great initiative to help people find good quality work as part of my 100,000 jobs plan.

“We know construction is a major growth area in the West Midlands that will create tens of thousands of jobs in the coming years, and we need to use programmes like RMF’s to help local people take advantage of those jobs. Coming in the wake of the end of the furlough scheme, the Jobs Club follows on from last week’s announcement that the WMCA has a £25 million package of training support to help unemployed people across the region find work.”

The Jobs Club initiative is accompanied by the RMF Fresh Start jobs website, which plays an integral role in linking employers with those who face systematic barriers within our society and aims to bring about change in the approach taken by the construction and rail industries towards recruitment. Employers are given the opportunity to advertise live job vacancies and access a network of trained candidates seeking roles within the industry.

RMF’s business and social value director, Dara McCarthy, said: “Fresh Start organically promotes corporate social responsibility in the core of its business practices by providing ex-offenders and under-represented groups with the relevant training, development and qualifications required to find economic stability and reintegrate back into society. We don’t just train candidates – we are completely focused on getting them into work too.”

RMF Group delivers regular construction training and is dedicated to being socially inclusive. It runs an in-house labour supply model, which satisfies its client’s workforce requirements through the utilization of a rapidly growing employee base. This multi-service offer has helped RMF remain busy throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has continued to provide training both virtually and at its 22 acre construction training site, specialising in delivering plant and groundwork and qualifications.